Expedia Group is continuing its efforts to get Vrbo “back on track” following a consolidation of the company’s alternative accommodations under the brand earlier this year.
For the quarter ending June 30, revenue for Vrbo was up 17% compared to the second quarter of 2018, while gross bookings were up 2% compared to the same period.
Vrbo stayed room nights grew 8% in Q2, and Expedia Group president and CEO Mark Okerstrom says he expects to see “continued modest growth in room night growth” in the back half of the year.
“We plan to continue to invest in the business as we navigate the transition period to position Vrbo to capitalize on the significant opportunity in alternative accommodations,” Okerstrom says.
Vrbo now offers more than two million online bookable listings, with 1.3 million instantly bookable.
Subscribe to our newsletter below
Okerstrom says Expedia Group is “increasingly unlocking opportunities to cross-sell between brands,” including at Vrbo, where customers can now book rental cars, flights and other products powered by Brand Expedia.
He calls this collaboration across brands “the third strategic theme around fully leveraging the power of our global platform,” and additional cross-brand initiatives include Hotels.com recently migrating to Brand Expedia’s system for collecting post-stay reviews.
Overall, revenue increased 9% to $3.2 billion. Gross bookings increased $2.4 billion, or 9%, to $28.3 billion.
Domestic gross bookings increased 11%, and international gross bookings increased 7%. Adjusted EBITDA for the period grew $105 million, or 23%.
For the quarter, lodging accounted for 71% of revenue, advertising and media account for 9%, air accounted for 7% and all other revenues accounted for 13%.
Lodging revenue increased 12% in the quarter on a 12% increase in room nights stayed driven by growth at Expedia Partner Solutions, Hotels.com and Brand Expedia.